You can now begin homebrewing in Utah as of today!

So I finally got tired of opening my buckets to take hydrometer reader (actually I use a refractormeter). I got smart and made a mini fermenter to show me what is going on in the real fermeter. The main reason I would do this is becasue I don’t want to rely on airlock activity to be a measure of my fermentation progress. I want to take gravity readings.

The first step in making on of these things is the equipment. You need a bottle, preferably clear, a drilled stopper, and an airlock. You sanitize everything the same as you would you fermenter. When your wort is put into your fermenter and combined with yeast, you take a small sample (only a few ounces) and put it into the bottle. Now you have a mini batch taken from your larger one. It is the exact same thing, and if you keep it in the same storage, it should produce the same results.

Why would you want to do this. If you are working with a plastic bucket or a carboy, it can be a pain to keep reaching into your fermenting beer to grab a sample. You run the risk of infection every time you touch it. Also, you take from the main fermenter, you can’t put your sample back into the beer. Making a small version you don’t have to worry about wasting any beer as you can use the same sample over and over since you will never be drinking it.

Another nice thing is that you can visually see what is going on; if you are not using carboy this can be a real advantage. There are a few problems with this method however. The biggest being that a small sample of liquid reacts much quicker to temperature changes then a large sample of liquid. This can increase or decrease your actual fermentation process. I think getting gravity readings this way is a good way to go and you can leave your beer alone while still knowing what’s going on inside.

It’s a question that all homebrewers ask themselves before they start brewing or right after they started. It’s the same kind of question anyone asks when dealing with such a “taboo” subject; Is this legal? The long and the short of it is yes, homebrewing is legal. It became legal again, after that whole prohibition thing, in 1978. For the record prohibition was done away with in 1933. Apparently someone forgot to add homebrewing back to the allowed activities, but I digress.

Homebrew laws vary by state, and its not even legal in some, go figure. Most states have a general rule of 100 gallons a year for an adult and an additional 100 gallons if there are more than two adults living in the same house. So we will just call it 200 gallons a year per house is legally allowed to be made. If you have specific questions regaurding your state, refer to this site.

Sadly some states aren’t up with the rest. The following states still outlaw homebrewing:

Utah

Alabama

Iowa

Kentucky

Mississippi

Ohio

Oklahoma

Most of the laws in those states are meant for distilling, but they can be inturpted for homebrewing, and some even carry some stiff penalities. Maybe someday they will catch up, I’m just glad I’m in a homebrew friendly state.